Category Archives: Quiz

Quiz for April 25, 2023

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About American Civil War Army and Navy Connections?

Q#1 — Alonzo Cushing was awarded the Medal of Honor defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett’s Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg. What was his younger brother famous for?

Q#2 — Continuing with Alonzo Cushing, the current US warship, the USS Gettysburg, honored him in a special way in 2014. What was this honor?

Q#3 — What is the connection between the Battle of Gettysburg and the USS Monitor?

Q#4 — What was the first combined operation of the Union Army and Navy in the American Civil War and what was the outcome of the operation?

Q#5 — Ranald Slidell Mackenzie was a career United States Army officer serving in the Union Army during the American Civil War and the following Indian wars. His Uncle John Slidell was involved in a serious naval related diplomatic event. What was it?

Q#6 — Brigadier General Henry Hayes Lockwood was a brigade commander during the Civil War. What was his connection to the Navy?

Q#7 — Union General John Pope built his reputation based on this combined operates victory on the Mississippi River. Name it.

Q#8 — United States Ram Fleet was active in the battle against the Confederate River Defense Fleet for control of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. What was unusual about this fleet?

Q#9 — The United States Ram Fleet was commanded by a well-known civil engineer. Who was he and what happened to him during the Civil War?

Q#10 — Burnside’s North Carolina Expedition was part of Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan. The first battle of the expedition was an amphibious operation. Name it.

Q#11 — The Battle of Sayler’s Creek, the last major battle before the surrender of Lee’s Army at Appomattox. What was its significance with respect to the Confederate navy?

Q#12 — This Civil War land battle saw a “boarding party” attack made by 1,600 sailors and 400 marines. Name it and what was the outcome?

Q#13 — On March 14, 1862, the Union undertook an amphibious operation. What battle resulted?

Q#14 — Union Major General John A. McClernand successful led a combined operations assault. What was the name of the battle?

Q#15 — The army unit was initially commanded by navy officers. Name it.

Quiz for March 28, 2023

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About Women’s Role in the Civil War?

Q#1 – In the years before the Civil War, the lives of American women were shaped by a set of ideals. What was the name that historians call these ideals?

Q#2 – According to the best available records from the Civil War, how many women disguised themselves as men and fought in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War?

Q#3 – With the outbreak of war in 1861, thousands of women eagerly volunteered to help with the Union cause forming organized ladies’ aid societies. What did these societies provide?

Q#4 – Many women wanted to take a more active role in the war effort. What was the name of the woman who inspired other women to find a way to work on the front lines, caring for sick and injured soldiers and keeping the rest of the Union troops healthy and safe?

Q#5 – Responding to increasing number of women wanting to support the war effort, in June 1861, what was the name of the agency created by the Federal Government?

Q#6 – What was the name of the female activist that was appointed the Superintendent of Army nurses be the Federal Government?

Q#7 – What was the name of the female American novelist, short story writer, and poet who was also a nurse for the Union Army?

Q#8 – For the Confederate troops, in addition to cooking mending clothing, and performing nursing duties, what personal act did they often perform for wounded soldiers?

Q#9 – In addition to performing nursing duties in hospitals, where else did Southern women volunteer to perform these duties?

Q#10 – What was the name of the woman who worked as a cook and nurse for the Union before she was asked to organize former slaves in South Carolina into a spy network?

Q#11 – This wealthy widow from Virginia, freed all her family’s slaves after her husband’s death. During the Civil War, she brought supplies to Union prisoners at Libby Prison. While visiting the prisoners, she picked up important tactical information about Confederate positions from them and passed that information on to Union leaders using couriers. What was this woman’s name?

Q#12 – On the Confederate side, this wealthy debutante from Martinsburg, Virginia working as a nurse, she wooed Union officers and convinced them to share information with her about troop movements. She then passed this information on to Confederate officers. What was her name?

Q#13 – This woman was also a Civil War nurse. She supplied her own wagon and drove out to the field of battle to tend to wounded soldiers without any permission of the Union War Department. What was her name?

Q#14 – For the Confederate government’s Department of the Treasury, what role was assigned to women?

Q#15 – Allan Pinkerton was made head of the Union Secret Service and one of his first orders was to conduct surveillance of a suspected Confederate female spy. What was the name of this spy?

Quiz for February 28, 2023

What Do You Know About Civil War Participants with Same Last Name? But Are They Related?

Q#1 — Including Robert E. Lee, there were six Confederate generals with the last name of Lee. Only one was not closely related to Robert E. Lee. Name him.

Q#2 — These three Confederate generals with the initials A.P., D.H., and B.J. were not related but have the same last name. What is it?

Q#3 — These four Confederate generals with the initials A.S., J.E., G.D., and R.D. were not related but have the same last name. What is it?

Q#4 — This Union general had the same first and last names as a prominent Confederate politician. Who was he?

Q#5 — Three Confederate generals with the last name of Jackson associated with the nickname “Mudwall”. Only one is related the Stonewall Jackson. Name him and the other two.

Q#6 — Brothers George Bibb Crittenden and Thomas Leonidas Crittenden have this unique distinction. What is it?

Q#7 — An Ohio family had 14 members fighting for the Union including six reaching the rank of brigadier general or higher. What was their last name?

Q#8 — William Barker Cushing was an officer in the United States Navy, best known for sinking the CSS Albemarle during a daring nighttime raid on 27 October 1864. What did his older brother achieve?

Q#9 — These two cousins were both Confederate generals killed during the Civil War. One was the first general to die in the Civil war and the other died at Gettysburg. Name them.

Q#10 — During June 1863 Union forces used Elizabeth Meade, sister of George Meade, home Ashwood as a headquarters. What was remarkable about Elizabeth?

Q#11 — Lieutenant General Richard Taylor had a notable father. Who was he and why was he significant?

Q#12 — These two Union generals with the same last name both commanded divisions at Shiloh. Who were they and were they related?

Q#13 — Confederate General Benjamin Hardin Helm wife had a famous half-sister. Who was she?

Q#14 — Sisters Eva and Rebecca Taylor married two close friends. What was their significance with respect to the battle of Antietam?

Q#15 — This Union general saw three brothers, two brothers-in-law, and his cousin J. Johnston Pettigrew serving in the Confederate military. Who was he?

Quiz for January 31, 2023

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About the Union Naval Blockade?

Q#1 – Which came first: the naval blockade of the South or the Anaconda Plan?

Q#2 – At the beginning of the war, President Lincoln considered issuing an executive order closing for commercial purposes all harbors and ports under Confederate control. Why did the government of England prefer that Lincoln issue a naval blockade versus the closing of ports?

Q#3 – What was the name of the US Secretary of the Navy who was placed in charge of setting up the Union blockade of the South and what nickname was given to him by President Lincoln?

Q#4 – What was the name of the Confederate Secretary of the Navy who was charged with breaking the Union blockade?

Q#5 – What two foreign ports were used extensively by blockade runners as cargo transfer points?

Q#6 – What were the names of the three Union commands that made up the blockading fleet and where were they located?

Q#7 – Initially, the Confederate government relied on issuing “Letters of Marque” to privateers to break the Union blockade. What was the name of the first Confederate approved privateer?

Q#8 – In December 1861, what action did the Union Navy take to blockade the port of Charleston, SC?

Q#9 – What famous racing yacht took an active role in the Union blockade off the Charleston, South Carolina coast?

Q#10 – The captain of a Confederate blockade runner could earn how much money for each successful voyage?

Q#11 – What English city built many of the Confederate naval vessels including the Alabama?

Q#12 – How many Union ships of any type is the Confederate warship Alabama credited with capturing?

Q#13 – As the Union fleet grew in size, speed and sophistication, more ports came under Federal control. After 1862, which three ports remained open for the blockade runners still in business?

Q#14 – On June 19, 1864, the Confederate warship CSS Alabama was sunk by the Union warship USS Kearsarge near the port of Cherbourg, France. Despite the superior gunnery displayed by Kearsarge and the deteriorated state of Alabama’s contaminated powder and fuses, what event prevented a possible battle victory for the CSS Alabama?

Q#15 – By the end of the Civil War how many Confederate blockade runners were either captured or destroyed?

Quiz for November 29, 2022

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About the Little Known Facts Regarding Fort Sumter?

Q#1 – Why was Fort Sumter Built?

Q#2 – How did Fort Sumter get its name?

Q#3 – On what was Fort Sumter Built?

Q#4 – What were the basic design requirements for housing the number of soldiers and guns?

Q#5 – In which direction were all the guns pointed?

Q#6 – What caused a 7-year delay in the construction of Fort Sumter on?

Q#7 – What was the construction status of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861?

Q#8 – What were the names of the three Charleston Harbor Shore Batteries that Fort Sumter was designed to reinforce and provide protection for?

Q#9 – How many sides did Fort Sumter have and how thick were its walls?

Q#10 – What Southern military unit performed the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861?

Q#11 – During the attack on Fort Sumter, the American flag was shot down. What was the name of the Union soldier who raised the flag back up?

Q#12 – How many casualties resulted from the attack on Fort Sumter that began on April 12, 1861?

Q#13 – What happened to the American flag that flew over Fort Sumter?

Q#14 – What was the result of the Second Battle of Fort Sumter that occurred on September 8, 1863?

Q#15 – What is the official name of the Fort Sumter Medal and why was it awarded?

Quiz for October 25, 2022

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About Events Leading to the Civil War?

Note: Some of the events contained in the quiz have many aspects to them.  The answers to the questions must be in the context of how these events contributed to the Civil War.

Q#1 – What Do You Know About the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

Q#2 – What Do You Know About the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798-99?

Q#3 – What Do You Know About the Missouri Compromise of 1820?

Q#4 – What Do You Know About the Tariff of 1828 (aka) Tariff of Abominations?

Q#5 – What Do You Know About the Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion (aka the Southampton Insurrection)?

Q#6 – What Do You Know About the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33?

Q#7 – What Do You Know About the United States vs. The Schooner Armistad Court Case?

Q#8 – What Do You Know About the Texas Annexation?      

Q#9 – What Do You Know About the Mexican–American War?

Q#10 – What Do You Know About the Wilmot Proviso of 1846?

Q#11 – What Do You Know About Manifest Destiny? 

Q#12 – What Do You Know About the Nashville Convention of 1850?

Q#13 – What Do You Know About the Compromise of 1850?

Q#14 – What Do You Know About the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?

Q#15 – What Do You Know About the Ostend Manifesto of 1854?

Quiz for September 27, 2022

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About The Copperheads?

Q#1 – What were the Copperheads?

Q#2 – What historical political set of values was the Copperhead Movement based on?

Q#3 – Where did the name “Copperheads” originate?

Q#4 – Why did those individuals and groups accept being called Copperheads?

Q#5 – While many Democrats opposed the war, hat title was given to those who supported the war?

Q#6 – What were the names of two Democratic Congressmen from Ohio who were considered leaders of the Copperhead movement?

Q#7 – How did the Copperheads view President Lincoln and the Republican Party?

Q#8 – What were some of the more drastic actions taken by Copperheads?

Q#9 – Who was John Mullaly?

Q#10 – What was the name of the Copperhead Wisconsin newspaper editor who referred to Lincoln as: “Fungus from the corrupt womb of bigotry and fanaticism” and a “worse tyrant and more inhuman butcher than has existed since the days of Nero. The man who votes for Lincoln now is a traitor and murderer. And if he is elected to misgovern for another four years, we trust some bold hand will pierce his heart with dagger point for the public good”?

Q#11 – What was General Ambrose Burnside’s 1863 General Order Number 38, issued in Ohio as it related to Copperhead actions?

Q#12 – What was The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC)?

Q#13 – What was the Charleston Riot?

Q#14 – What Congressman declared the war was being fought not to save the Union, but to free the blacks and enslave Southern whites?

Q#15 – The 1864 Democratic convention in Chicago. This convention adopted a largely Copperhead platform and selected Ohio Representative George Pendleton (a known Peace Democrat) as the vice presidential candidate. However, it also chose a pro-war presidential candidate—who was that?

Quiz for August 30, 2022

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About the Border States?

Q#1 – What are the names of the original four Border States?

Q#2 – Which state became a border state in 1863?

Q#3 – What main social/economic element did all the border states share in common?

Q#4 – Which Border State provided the Union Army with approximately 50% of its gunpowder during the Civil War?

Q#5 – Which of the Border States voted for Abraham Lincoln in the Presidential election of 1860?

Q#6 – Which of the Border States voted for Abraham Lincoln in the Presidential election of 1864?

Q#7 – Besides formal combat between regular armies, the border regions saw what other type of combative action?

Q#8 – Did Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation apply to the Border States?

Q#9 – What was the main political concern by the Border States in 1861 that might have led to them seceding from the Union?

Q#10 – What was the Maryland Legislature’s position on secession and the Civil War?

Q#11 – Which Border State did President Lincoln see as strategic to Union victory in the Civil War?

Q#12 – In 1861, what action was taken by President Lincoln against which Border State that was ruled unconstitutional by Chief Justice Roger Taney, at that time acting only as a circuit judge?

13 – What was Missouri Governor Claiborne F. Jackson’s reaction to the Missouri Constitutional Convention voting to remain within the Union, but rejecting coercion of the Southern states by the United States?

Q#14 – In 1861, after a series of military defeats, the Missouri secessionist forces retreated to southwestern Missouri where Governor Jackson and his exiled Confederate sympathizing took what political action?

Q#15 – The Kentucky legislature did not vote on any bill to secede, but passed two resolutions of neutrality, issuing a neutrality proclamation May 20, 1861, asking both sides to keep out of the state. What action broke that neutrality?

Quiz for July 26, 2022

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About Little Known Facts Regarding Stonewall Jackson?

Q#1 – What was Stonewall Jackson’s middle name?

Q#2 – How did Jackson’s Paternal Great Grandparents John Jackson and Elizabeth Cummins meet and end up in America?

Q#3 – Where was Stonewall Jackson born?

Q#4 – How did Stonewall Jackson learn to read and how was a Negro slave involved?

Q#5 – What was the reason that Jackson began his studies at West Point at the bottom of his class?

Q#6 – Jackson graduated 17th out of 59 students in the West Point Class of 1846. What reason did his classmates give that could have resulted in Jackson graduating first?

Q#7 – While on duty in Florida during the Second Seminole War, what future Union general was Jackson’s commanding officer who Jackson frequently disagreed with and each filed numerous complaints against each other?

Q#8 – After leaving the Federal Army in 1851, Jackson became a professor at the Virginia Military Institute. What did he teach?

Q#9 – What was Jackson’s view on slavery?

Q#10 – Brig. General Barnard Elliott Bee Jr. gave Jackson his nickname of Stonewall. Where on the battlefield of First Bull Run/Manassas did Jackson earn that nickname?

Q#11 – In his exceptionally successful 1862 Valley Campaign, what Union commander did Jackson repeatedly defeat in the Shenandoah Valley?

Q#12 – What breed of horse was Jackson’s Little Sorrel?

Q#13 – When Robert E. Lee took over command of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862, he created two command structures; one assigned to James Longstreet, the other to Stonewall Jackson. What was the first official designation for these two command structures?

Q#14 – What day of the week did Stonewall Jackson die on and what were his last words?

Q#15 – What was Jackson’s sister Laura Jackson Arnold’s reaction to learning of her brother’s death?

Quiz for May 31, 2022

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About the Presidential Election of 1864?

Q#1 – Which political party elected Abraham Lincoln as its nominee for President in the 1864 election?

Q#2 – Which political party split off from the Republican Party and who did it nominate as their candidate for President for the 1864 election?

Q#3 – What were the two major ideological elements that fractured the Democrat Party in 1864?

Q#4 – What was the main reason that Andrew Johnson was nominated as the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Abraham Lincoln?

Q#5 – George B. McClellan was the Democrat Party’s nominee for President. What was the name of his Vice Presidential running mate?

Q#6 – What was the political platform regarding the Civil War that was adopted by the Democrat Party and what was George McClellan’s position regarding it?

Q#7 – True or False: The Presidential election of 1864 was the first to be held during wartime.

Q#8 – For much of 1864, Lincoln himself believed he had little chance of being re-elected because of one significant human factor. What was that?

Q#9 – Several political and military events eventually made Lincoln’s re-election inevitable. First, the Democrats had to confront the severe internal strains within their party. Second, Frémont’s withdrawal from the campaign was based on his decision that winning the Civil War was too important to divide the Republican vote. What was the significant military event that influenced Lincoln’s chances for victory?

Q#10 – Because the eleven Southern states that had declared secession from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America were not eligible to vote, only twenty-five states participated in the 1864 election. What were the names of the three new states that voted for the first time?

Q#11 – What were the only three states that George McClellan won?

Q#12 – Not every non-secession state allowed its soldiers to cast votes in the 1864 Presidential election. California, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan were five of the seven states that did. What were the names of the other two states (Hint: They are located east of the Mississippi River).

Q#13 – Out of the 40,247 army votes cast, Lincoln received 30,503 (75.8%) and McClellan 9,201 (22.9%), with the rest (543 votes) scattering (1.3%). What was the name of the one state that the soldiers gave McClellan a majority of their votes?

Q#14 – Which state gave Lincoln his largest margin of victory?

Q#15 – Which state gave Lincoln his smallest margin of victory?