Best Little Ironies, Oddities, and Mysteries of the Civil Waris a collection of more than 100 stories of unusual and frequently surprising events that took place in connection with the Civil War. Organized by topics into seven sections, the stories include ironies that grew out of incidents that took place prior to the war, the unexpected consequences of events and the early days of the conflict, twists and turns of fate among soldiers, civilians and officers, and postwar happenings. All of these stories are written from a journalistic history approach that looks for the "feature story" aspects in the war's events, including: William "Mudwall" Jackson, who - as a lawyer, judge, and lieutenant governor of Virginia - would have been far better known than his cousin "Stonewall" Jacksonhad war not broken out. The man in charge of quelling John Brown's uprising at Harpers Ferry in 1859, surprisingly none other than Robert E. Lee. Jeff Greenwold of Anoka, Minnesota, who was the first volunteer of the first regiment to organize to fight for the Union. Brig. Gen. Robert Gannett, who was the first general officer of either side to be killed in battle. An unnamed Union soldier who broke down in tears following the battle of Williamsburgat the sight of a dead Confederate soldier, then kissed his enemy - his brother. John Taylor Wood, whose grandfather had been president of the United States, whose father was a 36-year veteran in the Union army, but whose aunt was married to Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Frank Crawford Armstrong, who served in both the Confederate and Union armies. Union officer Orton Williams - raised by Robert E. Lee and his wife at Arlington house after Williams had been orphaned - who later informed Mary Lee that Federal troops would be coming to occupy her home the next day.

Introduction

xiii

Part 1: Stage Setters

Stranger in Town

5

(2)

Off to West Point

7

(1)

Life Among the Lowly

8

(2)

Lucky Change of Heart

10

(3)

Warship Plans Tabled

13

(2)

Real-Life ``Eliza''

15

(3)

West Point Buddies

18

(3)

He Began to Lie at Seventeen

21

(3)

Green Subdues Brown

24

(4)

``God Alone Will Know''

28

(3)

Southern-Tinged Heroes

31

(3)

Boys in Confederate Gray

34

(1)

Old Buck's Legacy

35

(6)

Part 2: 1861: Embers to Hot Flame

Mystery: Where Was Mary Todd?

41

(5)

Mystery: What Did Lincoln Say?

46

(4)

``What Is the Matter with Them?''

50

(2)

Mystery: Who Fired the First Shot?

52

(5)

The War's First Casualty

57

(3)

Policeman at Sumter

60

(1)

Personal Glimpse: ``Colonel-Commander'' John Taylor Wood

61

(3)

Lincoln's Oregon Connection

64

(1)

Senator Ewing's Other Fighting Son

65

(5)

First Union Volunteer

70

(4)

Unsung Heroes I

74

(1)

Resources Inexhaustible

75

(1)

Mystery: Whose Portrait on the $10 Bill?

75

(3)

Personal Glimpse: ``Beast'' Butler

78

(5)

Myth: Stonewall's Great Train Caper

83

(2)

Footnote Status Unsought

85

(2)

Brothers at War

87

(8)

Part 3: Generally Speaking I

He Fought on Both Sides

95

(2)

Her Father Was Black

97

(5)

Forgotten Veep

102

(2)

Evening an Old Score

104

(3)

Myth: Creator of Baseball

107

(2)

Bees Being Bees

109

(1)

Who Wrote ``Taps''?

110

(1)

A Husband Pardoned

111

(1)

U.S. Grant Capitulates

112

(3)

Yankee Dentist in Napoleon's Court

115

(3)

Mrs. Lee's Mysterious Cousin

118

(7)

First Medals of Honor

125

(4)

How Some Died

129

(5)

Guard Boat Going Out

134

(5)

Travels of a Southern Lady

139

(10)

Part 4: 1862-63: High-Water Mark Reached

His Bosom Still Warm

149

(2)

Death of the Twenty-second Indiana

151

(4)

A Brave Courier's Fate

155

(4)

Wasp's One Sting

159

(7)

Mystery: The Issue Was Bodies

166

(3)

A Smile on His Face

169

(2)

To the Rear, March

171

(3)

Mystery: Murderer's Fate?

174

(2)

Woman at the Lead

176

(1)

A Footnote Only

177

(2)

``Mudwall'' for Governor?

179

(4)

Death of a Reputation

183

(2)

Unsung Heroes II

185

(2)

Mystery of a Missing Limb

187

(2)

Who Was He?

189

(2)

Disappearance of a General

191

(3)

Bitter News to Impart

194

(1)

No Happy Ending

195

(1)

Personal Glimpse: From General to Private

196

(7)

Part 5: Generally Speaking II

A Tale of Two Horses

203

(5)

Personal Glimpse: ``Extra Billy''

208

(2)

Men of Iron

210

(5)

West Pointers All

215

(6)

Showing the Way Home

221

(1)

Strife Among Generals

222

(5)

Lincoln's Lady Adviser

227

(2)

State Pride at Stake

229

(2)

War's Most Amazing Escape?

231

(5)

Brothers with Separate Fates

236

(1)

Masons at War

237

(6)

Presidential Woes

243

(1)

Star-Crossed Recruit

244

(3)

Contradictions, Contradictions

247

(4)

The Variegated Lincoln

251

(8)

Part 6: 1864-65: Winding Down

Mystery: The Dahlgren Papers

259

(6)

He Lifted His Hat

265

(3)

Letter to Mrs. Bixby

268

(1)

Unsung Heroes III

269

(1)

``Lee to the Rear!''

270

(2)

No Place to Fall

272

(4)

``May We Meet in Heaven''

276

(1)

Custer Does a Favor

277

(3)

Unexpected Benefactor

280

(1)

Crook's Embarrassment

281

(2)

One of Fourteen Honored

283

(2)

Fluttering Through the Air

285

(4)

Middlings All Gone

289

(1)

``Andy Ain't a Drunkard''

290

(3)

Human Moments for Lee

293

(6)

Custer Arrested by Custer

299

(2)

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Best Little Ironies, Oddities, and Mysteries of the Civil War

9781581821161

1581821166

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