Strange and Obscure Stories of the Civil War

Tim Rowland

• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781628731002
• Subtopic: 19th Century History
• Index: History

A quirky journey through little-known trivia and true stories from the history of the American Civil War.
 
The Civil War tore the United States apart—but with the drama and chaos of war as front-page news, some stories of the time were forgotten. They’re the sort of bizarre, outrageous, funny, or entertaining tidbits that would have gone viral on social media—if they’d had such a thing back then.
 
Here, a newspaper columnist and a retired superintendent of the Antietam National Battlefield have collected a wide variety of tales from the time, including mistakes, misadventures and epic screw-ups you won’t find in history books, including:
 
* the monument to Union General Dan Sickles that was missing a statue because the funds for it had been stolen…by Dan Sickles
* the brutal equine cost of war: while over 600, 000 men died, there was an even higher toll on horses
* the legend of Brigadier General Philip Kearny who, after losing an arm, rode into battle with a sword in one hand and his horse’s reins in his teeth
 
From amazing stories of survival to incredible coincidences that ended up changing the course of history, Strange and Obscure Stories of the Civil War is a must-read for Civil War buffs, history fans, or anyone that enjoys odd historical trivia.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Halftitle
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 John Brown Gets a Visitor
• Chapter 2 Abner Doubleday Throws the First Pitch of the Civil War
• Chapter 3 Happiness is Throwing Senators in Jail
• Chapter 4 Looks Could Be Deceiving
• Chapter 5 The North Finds Its Hero, Briefly
• Chapter 6 Paying For it All
• Chapter 7 The North’s Shadow Cabinet Member
• Chapter 8 Racing Locomotives
• Chapter 9 Civil War Ammunition—A Blast from the Past
• Chapter 10 A Foreigner Joins the Fight
• Chapter 11 Horses: Backbone of an Army
• Chapter 12 An Original, American Piece of Work
• Chapter 13 Spare Time
• Chapter 14 A Southern Boy Comes Home
• Chapter 15 Confederate Hopes Sink
• Chapter 16 Chamberlain’s Last Day at the Office
• Selected Bibliography